Twitter is rebranding as X; And, is the Manipur government complicit in communal violence?

Market Watch

• Indian benchmark indices ended the day in red, with the Sensex decreasing 299 points at 66,384 and Nifty falling 72 points at 19,672.
• Sectorally, Nifty FMCG (-1.72%) and Metal (-0.73%) shed the most, while Healthcare (0.45%) and Pharma (0.41%) gained the most.

Three things:

• ITC’s board has given in-principle approval for the demerger of its hotels business .
• Reliance Industries’ (RIL) Q1FY24 results have been announced, resulting in a fall in the company’s stock price .?
• Banks are growing cautious about their exposures to Vedanta due to concerns over its dividend payments to its parent entity.

The iconic blue bird logo is gone: Musk rebrands Twitter to ‘X’

Twitter is now getting a makeover as Elon Musk leads the microblogging platform into a new era.

• On Sunday, Musk took to Twitter to announce that he is changing the company’s logo, sharing a tentative new design.
• “And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds. If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow,” he tweeted .
• CEO Linda Yaccarino unveiled the new logo on Monday , stating that X would be an AI-powered business “centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking.”
• Furthermore, X.com now redirects to Twitter.?

Between the lines: Reports back in April had hinted at this development as court filings indicated that Twitter Inc had been merged into a holding company named X Corp .

• Musk had founded an online bank called X.com back in 1999, which was later merged with PayPal — and which Musk had originally wanted to make “a one-stop everything-store for all financial needs,” according to biographer Walter Isaacson .
• The billionaire has also often voiced his ambition to create an “everything app” called X to rival platforms like WeChat, which has been reflected by how Twitter is diversifying into news and video content , mobile payments , and the job search space .?
• All in all, it seems like Twitter turning into X is not just an aesthetic makeover, but a symbol of the platform’s future direction.

Of note: Musk’s attachment to the letter ‘X’ is evident in how he has used in his other business ventures (SpaceX and Tesla’s Model X car), as well as in his personal life (the name of his child, X ? A-12).

What else: Musk is also actively promoting the Twitter Blue subscription plan , promising substantial earnings to verified users through advertising revenue sharing

• Twitter’s financial situation is challenging, with a reported negative cash flow due to a drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load.
• Twitter Blue subscriptions have not met Musk’s initial expectations, and advertisers have been leaving due to revenue shortages.

Hi, I’m Gaurav Jeyaraman, the editor of this newsletter. We’d like to hear some feedback on our newsletter: what works and what doesn’t work? WhatsApp me directly and tell me what you think.

Manipur govt complicit in communal violence, CM associated with radical groups: BJP MLA claims

Manipur BJP MLA Paolienlal Haokip has accused the state government of complicity in the ongoing ethnic violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities.

What he said: Haokip and other tribal legislators have alleged that the violence was tacitly supported by the BJP-run state government , with Chief Minister N Biren Singh attempting to portray the issue as a war on “narco terrorists” to justify the use of state forces against the Kuki-Zo community.

• The MLA from Saikot in Manipur’s Churachandpur district also accused the Chief Minister of being in collusion with radical groups executing the ethnic cleansing of the Kuki Zo community.?
• In a previous interview with The Wire , Haokip had sought a change of leadership or President’s rule in Manipur, stating, “the Kukis are not likely to accept any talks whilst Biren is in power.”
• He also added that, despite his and other Manipur MLAs’ attempts to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they’ve been unsuccessful, leading him to believe the PM has “misplaced priorities.” However, Haokip remains optimistic that the central government can restore peace in the state.??

The big picture: The Kuki Zo people, who seek a separate administration for the Kuki-dominated hill districts in the state, consider the violence a liberation war against perceived injustices.

• The Meiteis, on the other hand, fear their place in the valley will shrink over time unless given ST status.

Meanwhile, the face-off between the central government and the opposition over the violence in Manipur continued after Parliament’s Monsoon Session resumed on Monday, following?protests last week .

ICYMI

• India’s recent ban on non-basmati rice exports has caused panic buying by NRIs in the US due to fears of inflated food prices and shortages.
• The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued a warning about a new ransomware virus named ‘Akira’.
• Two Chinese nationals were apprehended at the Raxaul border outpost in Bihar , after illegally crossing into Indian territory from Nepal for the second time in less than a month.
• Union minister Jitendra Singh has announced that Jammu will be the site of the first cannabis medicine project in India .
• The newly-released film ‘Oppenheimer’ has sparked outrage in India due to the use of the Bhagavad Gita during a sexual scene.
• The I-T department has served notices to many taxpayers, including salaried individuals, who engaged in dubious practices to slash their tax outgo and prop up refunds.
• The Biden administration has gathered ‘voluntary commitments’ from seven major AI developers to pursue shared safety and transparency goals.